Islamej
The oriental fantasy Islamej (also Islamey ) is a piano piece first published in Moscow in 1870 , written by the Russian composer Mili Alexejewitsch Balakirew in 1869 and revised in 1902. Due to its technical requirements, among others in the opinion of Hans von Bülow , it was long considered the most difficult piece of all.
The piece begins with toccata or tremolo-like passages to which the tempo dynamics "Allegro con fuoco" is subject. The rather unusual 12/16 time signature immediately catches the eye. This main part is followed by a slow middle part ("Andantino espressivo"), followed by the repetition of the main part in a modified form and key. Then follows ("Allegro vivo") a trepak (Russian dance), the work ends with a coda ("Presto furioso"). The key of the piece (although difficult to specify because the piece already has many dissonant features) changes (according to the accidentals ) between D flat major and D major. Islamej was later orchestrated by Alfredo Casella (1907) and Sergei Lyapunov . The style of the piece is strongly influenced by Eastern, Oriental music. The autograph is in the Russian National Library .
Balakirev traveled to the North Caucasus and studied the traditional Circassian music there . The Circassian folk dance Islamej inspired him for this piano piece.
With his piano piece Gaspard de la nuit, Maurice Ravel wanted to create a work that was "more difficult than Balakirev's Islamej".
Web links
- Islamej : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- The Circassian dance Islamey which forms the basis of the piece
- Balakirew - Islamej (with recording to listen to)